Things to-do app gets a big, keyboard-focused iPad update
If you’re all-Apple all the time when it comes to your hardware preferences, the Things to-do app is one of the best ways to keep track of projects large and small. And if you’re an iPad user who uses the tablet with a keyboard, an update that was released today makes the experience a lot better. The makers of Things have released a complicated but useful and extremely intricate keyboard shortcut system that goes far beyond what the app offered before.
There’s a whole list of every command here, but it all stems from one major addition: the ability to select items in your lists with the arrow keys. Once you’ve selected an item, a variety of shortcuts let you do things like moving it up and down in a list, duplicate to-do items or entire projects, move items to a different list, edit reminders and deadlines and more. That’s really just scratching the surface, and basically none of this could be done with the keyboard before.
It’s a major update, and there’s a lot to learn here — but the good news is that many of these commands are the same as those in the Mac app. So if you’re jumping between devices, your muscle memory will help you out there. Things for iPad also now lets you get into the app’s “popovers” with the keyboard — those are the small windows for adjusting dates, adding tags and so forth. And, if you’re using the iPad Pro’s Smart Keyboard, which doesn’t have an escape key, you can press command and the period key to close popovers or to-do items on your list.
Things for the iPad isn’t cheap — the app costs $20, and it doesn’t work on the iPhone — but the good thing about the price is that developer Cultured Code continues making major refinements to its apps for years after they come out. Today’s update is a good example of that commitment. If you’re already using Things and want to give these new commands a shot, an update is in the App Store now. Also, bookmark this site — it lists out every single command that you’ll want to try.
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